“But now that I’ve suffered that terror, I can’t sit still and allow Clarice to suffer when I know, I know she didn’t do it.” Elle was fierce in her determination and her courage.

Adam stood, and with the binoculars, he looked along the horizon, empty of everything but trees and grass, and up the hill, the town of Gothic topped by The Tower. When he followed Elle, he shut and locked the doors and set the alarms. Because, although she was intent on protecting her friend, he could not forget the bruises that still faintly rimmed her throat or the danger she faced, until she completely recovered her memory.

At the computer, he sat beside her, read the acting team’s bios, looked at the photos, and when they had finished and found nothing amiss, he said, “I know you’re feeling ferocious in your defense of your friend. I do understand that. But this is a second violent incident in a town that is usually bucolic and without violence. Tomorrow, I don’t want you to...” Carefully he rephrased his desire. “Tomorrow, I would prefer if you did not go to work at Madame Rune’s.”

“I agree. So does Rune.”

“You spoke to her?” Adam asked in surprise.

“While I was watching them take Clarice away, Rune caught up with me. She doesn’t want to open the shop until afternoon, to avoid the gruesome curiosity seekers. Then apparently when Angelica heard I was working in the shop, she got a pinched look, like her lemon zest wasn’t freshly grated.”

He grinned at the apt description of Angelica and at his own relief that Elle would remain home with him.

Elle continued. “And she has assigned Veda to Rune for the duration of the festival.”

“Rune must have done some fancy talking to pull that off.”

“I don’t know. Angelica is a highly strung woman. Rune told me since Veda has started helping her, I didn’t have to work the shop at all ever again.” She glanced around the small house.

He glanced around, too. Did she see his house as a home? Or a prison?

“But I like it. I’m good at it, and I need something to do besides watch you work, try to recover more fragments of memory and brood about the cruel bastard who strangled me and who might very well be dead from the wounds I gave him in return. I did defend myself. I did hurt him. I hurt him badly. When that hook sank into his flesh, I didn’t flinch away, I thought only of survival. Bendy Wendy says that’s huge.” She drew a breath, stopped trying to persuade him and asked, “What do you think? Is it safe to work in Rune’s shop?”